Motorless floor-cleaning machine for use on transportable electric vacuum apparatus



April 10, A. BUCK MOTORLESS FLOOR CLEANING MACHINE FOR USE ON l TRANSPORTABLE ELECTRIC VACUUM APPARATUS Filed March 7, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO April l0, 1934. A. BUCK 1,954,055

MoToRLEss FLOORGLEANING MACHINE FOR USE oN TRANSPORTABLE ELECTRIC VACUUM APPARATUS Filed March 7. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 10, 1,934

Fries s MGTORLESS FLGE CLEANING IVIACHINE FOR USE 0N TRANSPORTABLE ELECTRIC VACUUM APPARATUS Albert Buck, Zurich, Switzerland Application March 7,

1 Claim.

The invention relates to floor cleaning attachments adapted to be attached to vacuum cleaning machines whereby the vacuum cleaner machine may be utilized for polishing and cleaning floors,

5 and the suction of the vacuum cleaner utilized for removing small particles of dirt or polishing material, which may be rolled up incident to polishing or cleaning operation.

A further object is to provide the polishing attachment with suction channels extending from adjacent the brush and discharging into the fan chamber, said suction channels being streamlined exhaust pipes.

A further object is to attach the floor cleaning and polishing device to the fan casing in a manner whereby the weight of the vacuum cleaner is supported on the brushing element of the attachment thereby obviating the necessity of applying pressure manually during a floor cleaning or brushing operation.

A further object is to arrange the tufts of the brushing element whereby tufts having stiffer bristles are disposed towards the axis of the device for scrubbing purposes and softer tufts further away from the axis for polishing purposes.

With the above and other objects in view the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter set forth, shown in the drawings, described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention may be made Within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the polishing and cleaning attachment.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the attachment.

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse sectional View through the polishing and cleaning attachment, and the fan casing of the vacuum cleaner, parts of the vacuum cleaner being shown in side elevation.

Figure 3a is a detail collective view of the quick detachable hinge connection between the polishing and cleaning attachment and the fan casing.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the casing of the cleaning and polishing attachment which is hingedly connected by a hinge 2 to one side of the vacuum cleaner, and 3 a spring actuated catch cooperating with the flange 1a of the casing 1 for holding said flange and casing attached to the fan casing 4. The hinge 2 comprises a hinge leaf 2a attached to 1929, Serial No. 345,094

(Cl. 15-49l the fan casing 4, and which leaf terminates in sleeves 2b, in which is slidably mounted a shaft b having reduced portions e adapted to be placed in registration with the longitudinally slotted sleeves d of the leaf c for receiving the sleeves d for forming the hinge connection. After the reduced portions e are received in the slotted sleeves d, the expansion spring f axially moves the shaft b by cooperating with one of the sleeves 2b and the finger engaging member 2c until enlai-ged portions of the shaft b are in the sleeves d, thereby forming the quick detachable hinge connection so that the regular suction equipment may be attached to the fan casing 4, or the cleaning device.

Extending into the fan casing 4 is an auxiliary drive shaft 5, the upper ends of which are provided with spaced fingers 5a adapted to receive therebetween the fan blades 6 carried by the main drive shaft 'l of the vacuum cleaner. The lower end of the motor shaft 7 rests on a leather washer disposed on the upper end of the shaft 5 and serves to relieve the pressure of the armature shaft 7, owing to its vertical axial position on the bearings of the vacuum cleaner. The members l5 are longitudinal bars, pivotally mounted on pins 18 at one end in the casing 1, the other end of which is free to move under the action of the springs 16, whereby the friction members 13 are brought into engagement with the drive shaft 11. The lower end of the auxiliary drive shaft 5 eX- tends downwardly and is attached by means of a set screw 9 and a key 10 adjustably in a driven shaft 11, said adjustment being according to the distance of the fan blades 6 therefrom. The driven shaft 11 is antifrictionally supported in bearings 12 as clearly shown in Figure 1. Yieldable bands 1B are attached to the disc shaped brushing elements 14 and have frictional engagement with the driven shaft 11, caused by the contractible springs i6, which are anchored to the members 15. The brushing elements are supported on antifrictional bearings 12a which are mounted on spindles 12b, screw-threadedly secured to members 15 during their rotation. The dirt released by the rotary brushing elements 14 or rolled up hereby is lifted by the vacuum created by the fan and passes upwardly through the channels 17 into the fan casing e. The brushes in the brushing elements 14 are of such a nature and so arranged that stiff-bristled brushes are disposed toward the axis of the device and brushes having weaker bristles are arranged near the periphery of the device, so as to act as a scrubbing means in the center and as a polishing means at the periphery. The channels are opposite each other and extend upwardly in a streamline shape indicated by the numerals 17a in the various figures. The bearings 12 are provided With a bearing housing 19 for preventing clogging of the bearings incident to collection of dirt within the various passages, and to further insure a dust proof bearing, a felt Washer 20 is provided Within the housing 19 around the sha-ft 5. Extending around the housing 1 of the attachment is a row of brush tufts 21 which assist in maintaining the vacuum at the lifting end of the device to the outside of the air channels 17. If so desired, a bumper bandv 22 may be provided around the casing 1 for preventing damage to furniture, baseboards and the like as the machine is moved over the floor When in operation.

From the above it will be seen that a vacuum cleaner attachment is provided for cleaning and polishing floors, and which attachment may be easily and quickly applied to the vacuum cleaner fan casing by removing the usual suction head from the fan casing and applying the attachment.

I claim:

In a floor polishing and vacuum suction attachment for vacuum cleaners, a suction chamber, a plurality of rotatable polishing Wheels Within said chamber, a common driving pinion for said Wheels centrally Y positioned therebetween, said driving pinion mounted on a shaft positioned centrally of said suction chamber, said chamber having a circular ilange positioned centrally thereof at its upper portion, means for connecting said chamber to the suction -fan conduit of a vacuum cleaner, said circular flange being positioned coaxially with said suction fan, and a longitudinally adjustable means for connecting the said suction fan With said pinion shaft. Y

ALBERT BUCK. 

